ability to put work in public domain

On Tue, 26 Oct 1999, David Bozak <dab[_at_]cs.oswego.edu> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 25 Oct 1999, Lance Purple <lpurple[_at_]netcom.com> wrote:
> >
> > BTW: This post is in the public domain.
>
> i thought the conclusion based on the considered thought of members
> of this list was that you couldn't just put your copyrighted piece
> into the "public domain" since there is no mechanism for relinquishing
> the copyright...

There are always some guys on earth, especially in some countries such as France where moral rights are perpetual, that think that you cannot put your work in the pubic domain no matter what. It is their own business to think that way. But, in no way, they will ever tell me that I cannot exercise my natural and inalienable right to put my work in the public domain. In the U.S., if I ever am sued by some idiots for putting my work in the public domain, I will invoke my right under the Ninth Amendment.

Two things to keep in mind: 1) Copyright is a property. It is not a right. Like any other property, you can abandon it. 2) Copyright is an exception to the rule. The rule is that everything can be copied. See http://counsel.cua.edu/IP/Public_Domain/Introduction.htm for a good explanation.

Regards,

Joseph Pietro Riolo
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com>

Public domain notice: All of my words in this post, I put in the public domain. This statement is irrevocable. Received on Wed Oct 27 1999 - 09:49:17 GMT